Trump makes NCAA men’s wrestling championships his latest sports-focused trip

President Donald Trump is attending the NCAA wrestling championships for the second time in three years, the latest example of how he has mostly limited travel early in his new term to trips built around sports events.

Trump arrived at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Saturday night to loud cheers and U.S.A chants as Penn State looks to close out its fourth straight men’s team title. The Republican president spent Friday night at his club in Bedminster, New Jersey, about 70 miles northeast of Philadelphia, on what was his first visit there of his second term.

“We’re going to the big fight. The reason I’m going is in Philadelphia. They have the NCAA, world, wrestling for college. And I’ve always supported the wrestlers,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House on Friday evening. “I want to support them. These are the great college wrestlers from the various schools.”

Trump was traveling with billionaire and top adviser Elon Musk. Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin greeted the president as he arrived at the Philadelphia airport. Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick and U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan were also at the arena sitting in the same section as Musk and White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.

In the two-plus months since returning to the White House, Trump attended the Super Bowl in New Orleans and the Daytona 500 in Florida, where his motorcade drove a portion of the track. While president-elect he went to a UFC fight in New York.

That’s more travel for sports than for policy announcements or official duties, though a long January swing took Trump to tour damage from Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and wildfires in Los Angeles. He then gave a speech and visited the floor of Las Vegas’ Circa Resort & Casino before heading to Doral, Florida, to address a House Republican policy conference.

Trump has long built his public and political persona around sporting events, and relishes turning up at live events to hear cheers from the crowd, even if some in attendance boo him. He also has signed an executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports — an action which he points to frequently to fire up his core supporters.

The president has used most Saturdays and Sundays to play golf at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, though he also sometimes remained in Washington to give weekend speeches.

Trump was a candidate when he went to the 2023 NCAA wrestling championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma. ___

Associated Press writer Adriana Gomez Licon in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contributed to this report.